Year Zero
by JustLikeYouImagined
Summary: Based on the NIN album of the same name. Set in the far future of Irk, the planet's economy and stance has become controlled by an international, dystopian government system. As a nuclear war is on the horizon, things get desperate when a group of rebels decides to take a quest - and launch the world into an even worse chaos. T


**AN: Hello. This story, clearly, is a new project I am working on; to anyone who is reading my already existing Saki fanfiction "Descending Skies", do not fret; there will be updates very, very soon. As of now, though, this story will also correspondently be updated in favor with that story.**

**Like many of my fanfictions, this story derives its inspiration around the Nine Inch Nails album of the same name, "Year Zero", and will have each chapter based around each song from the record. I kind of began to work on this story as not only a science fiction tale of a dying Irken planet full of rebellion and civil war, but also as a metaphoric allegory to the state of our real life Earth; comparable in a few ways. **

**This story focuses on a group of Irken rebels, lead by stone cold protagonist OC Yaz, in a quest to overcome the Tallest and start a new era on the planet of Irk while facing many obstacles - and lessons - along the way. This story will be dark and probably a bit anti-war as well, but also with hints of humor, in truth to Invader Zim in and of itself.**

**Without further ado...**

_**Year Zer0**_  
_**By JustL1keY0u1mag1ned**_  
_**F1rst publ1shed and updated: September f0urth, tw0-th0usand-th1rteen**_  
_**Number 0f chapters: s1xteen**_  
_**JustLikeY0uImagined w0uld like to thank: K0r0m0 Amae, M0m, Dad, Trent Rezn0r, B1lly C0rgan, M1chael G1ra**_

PROLOGUE

Upon the gargantuan throes of The Massive, it was easy for any noise, no matter how big or small, to go totally unnoticed. Of course, a mildly tall Irken cockpit driver inserting a key into an otherwise unnocupied slot in a vacant, silent hall was no difference.

The tall Irken man, his mouth obscured by his suffocating coat, stepped inside the room and closed the automatically locking Irken door behind him. Their species made sure the doors on their capitol ships and monuments required keys as to oppose any smeet, defective, or otherwise unauthorized individual to any area besides where they rightfully belonged (the underground training facilities for the smeets, and for the defectives, well, the dissection and execution rooms). Prohibited governmental areas on the ships, such as this one, were especially under intensely thorough lockdown.

Inside the room was a towering screen that stretched for yards and yards across, from one side of the walls to the next; like a monolithic movie theater program. On a tall, throne-like chair sat a tall, slim and slender Irken whom appeared to be sipping on soda and shoveling the last remaining crumbs of a glazed doughnut into his face. He suddenly heard the footsteps of the fellow Irken, and turned over to meet his gaze. His eyes, unlike the purple of the smaller Irken, were magenta red.

The man gulped hesitantly. "Greetings, m-my Tallest Red," he said with a slight sweat. He tried his hardest to not show any emotion; that was unacceptable for an Irken to do. If he did that..._defect, _they'd spit in his face. No doubt. "Where has your Fellow Tallest Purple gone...if you do not care for me asking, that is."

"Welcome back, pilot 059. Purple...you see, he went to get some more round frosted hole thingies..." He seemed to trail off, forgetting the simple Irken snack name "doughnut".

"You-you mean a doughnut, Master?" The smaller Irken pilot reminded, then suddenly scolded himself in his mind for the mistake.

"Yes, yes, doughnuts," Red remembered. He shook his head "Gah, whatever! Just immediately report to your post this instant, 059. We have some...urgent discoveries that I'd like to show you." Red pointed to one of the medium-sized, electronic machines being held precariously above the screen. Many other pilots were hard at work, but 059 had little time to think about this as he immediately was commanded to his work station.

"Good, good!" Red shouted from below, setting his eyes' gaze on the large screen in front of him. Though he did not pull his eyes from the screen, he continued to shout back upwards; though it seemed to be addressed to everyone this time. "We have, as you know, managed to track down one of the rebellion townships on Irk that are in hiding no longer. Instant action will clearly be taken; Pilot 652, display the live footage of the town on screen right now. Of course, this is part of the larger network of rebellions, so of course we will have to give it a good ole Hyperpower beam to fix its existence on our planet."

The unseen Irken pilot did so, and the screen flashed and changed erratically until it was met with the footage of the small, quiet Irken town that Red had foretold of. A mischievous grin passed; Red fished out a remote from his suit, and placed it into his left hand pointing his finger on the tip of the button. "Hold your nonexistent ears."

With that, all of the pilots on the ship ducked beneath their quarters; and Red pushed the button reducing the town suddenly into nothing but flames and ash blackness.

**AN: Thoughts so far? The chapters will increase and length from here, and the main characters will be all introduced via next chapter. Until then, please leave feedback and where and how I could improve.**


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